Journey to Kerfi
Chad blog Thursday, 6 September 2007
To launch the new Chad blog, Margaret Ward, foreign editor with RTE will contribute a diary of her recent experiences in Chad. In the past, Margaret has reported from places such as Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Kosovo and North Korea. In this diary she gives a glimpse of what life is like for the people affected by the conflict in Chad, as well as for the Concern staff members who are working in the area.
News from the team in Chad - 5 Dec 2007
A forgotten country - 14 Nov 2007
Working in Chad - a day in the life - 25 Oct 2007
Facing the challenges in Chad - podcast - 19 Oct 2007
Widows in Gourounkoum - Chad blog - 9 Oct 2007
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We had been told not to drive into the wadi, but we were in it before we realised, and now we were stuck. Our tyres whizzed uselessly in the mud as the driver made things worse, and we sank even further.
Eastern Chad in the rainy season is one of the most difficult environments on earth. For three months of the year road transport is almost impossible. But Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) who operate a clinic in the village of Kerfi had asked for help.
Replenishing supplies
Newly displaced people who had fled fighting in their villages had arrived in Kerfi with next to nothing. We were bringing plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and blankets. MSF vehicles were waiting on the other side of the wadi to bring us the next 24 kilometres and allow our vehicles to return to Goz Beida. But first we had to get out of the mud.
Sometimes I wonder what all the UN’s top of the range landcruisers are doing. But today we were happy to see two of them appear behind us, one with the all important winch. They towed us out.
There are no roads in eastern Chad really, just donkey paths that jeeps have fashioned into roads over time, but which are hard to see in the rainy season. We crashed through vegetation at times, drove through deep channels of water, brushed trees.
In one magical moment a troop of baboons crossed in front of us, the biggest male watching us closely. A few minutes later the scene was repeated. Huge brightly coloured birds flew overhead. As the Chadians say, we were really a la brousse (in the bush).
Occasionally we passed a few people on donkeys, or saw women gathering firewood. Closer to Kerfi we met nomads herding sheep and goats.
Safety in numbers
We drove in convoy with Oxfam because this part of Chad is still insecure. It’s the rainy season so attacks are less likely, but our vehicles and communications equipment are highly prized items for armed groups and bandits.
Oxfam were going to Kerfi to see what they could do about water and sanitation. There are no latrines at all in the village or the sites where the displaced people have built their shelters. According to the MSF nurse John Fiddler, children are dying needlessly from diarrhoea caused by dirty water and dehydration.
Different modes of transport
As we approached Kerfi, Didi from MSF explained that we would have to cross another wadi. This one was more like a proper river. MSF keeps its vehicles on the Goz side, so he showed us our next form of transport. A series of oildrums lashed together, and pulled by a very fit Chadian man who swam across the river dragging us behind him for the princely sum of four euro a time.
It took a few trips to bring all the blankets, nets and sheeting as well as our personal gear (we were camping chez MSF). On the other side two donkey carts were waiting to bring us to the MSF compound and a real Irish welcome from John Fiddler, who had the kettle on.
It had taken us five hours to travel 46 kilometres and cross two rivers in baking heat. After some water, tea and a rest in the shade we would start the distribution, in the relative cool of the evening.
